EDMONTON — Two Alberta opposition parties are calling on the province’s Human Services minister to launch an independent investigation into the scalding of a foster child reported by an emergency room doctor.

Both the Wildrose and NDP are demanding Human Services Minister Manmeet Bhullar review the circumstances that resulted in a two-year-old severely developmentally impaired aboriginal girl suffering serious facial burns in a foster home five months ago.

NDP critic Rachel Notley urged Bhullar in a letter Monday to direct the Council for Quality Assurance to investigate the poor communication between the ministry and medical officials treating young children at risk.

“I have met with advocates from within the medical system who are concerned about their ability to get the ministry to act in a timely fashion when they see kids who are at risk,” she said in an interview.

While she wants the council to address the systemic issue, Notley called for immediate action to investigate the scalding incident and reassess the safety of the foster child.

The case was reported Monday by the Herald after a Strathmore doctor said he believed the burns were the result of abuse or extreme neglect.

David Rudkin, a former medical examiner and a veteran physician, said he fears the child, who was returned to the foster home, may be in peril.

He called for the removal of the child and other foster children in the home pending a proper review.

Rudkin said he turned to the media because his concerns were ignored by child welfare officials. He said RCMP closed the file without interviewing him about the case.

No one from the ministry was available to comment on the calls for an investigation Monday, but spokeswoman Kathy Telfer has said the ministry believes the incident was investigated thoroughly by Child Intervention Services and the RCMP.

She said all parties involved in the investigations indicated the injuries were accidental and child intervention officials were working closely with the home and the child.

“We take any report of alleged abuse or mistreatment of a foster child seriously and we will take whatever action is necessary to ensure the safety and well-being of all of our children in care,” Telfer said last week.

But Notley expressed alarm over the handling of the situation.

She said in her letter to the minister that even if there was no abuse, the fact a serious scalding could occur in a foster home almost two years after the government pledged to ensure scalding prevention protocols were put in place was “very problematic.”

“In addition, an investigation by the RCMP to rule out a criminal level of negligence is hardly adequate to also rule out the more benign forms of neglect,” she stated in the letter.

Wildrose MLA Kerry Towle said she also supports the idea of a Quality Council investigation.

“That is what the Quality Assurance Council is for,” she said. “This is the kind of event that should be investigated and I would support that.”

Towle said she was shocked a medical doctor with concerns about the safety of a foster child would be ignored and that police and child welfare officials wouldn’t have interviewed him before returning the child to the home.

“In an investigation what normally happens is you interview all parties involved,” she said. “That’s standard, and why that protocol wouldn’t have been followed in this case is disturbing.”

Towle said an investigation into alleged abuse that doesn’t include the child’s doctor is “simply unacceptable.”

dhenton@calgaryherald.com

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